New Delhi: The government on Thursday sought cooperation from Dhaka on the “key issue” of return of illegal Bangladeshis to India. Speaking on the issue for the first time after the Bengal election results, the External Affairs Ministry called for expediting the pending nationality verification of around 3,000 persons for smooth repatriation of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Randhir Jaiswal of the Ministry of External Affairs said, “This requires cooperation… More than 2,862 cases of nationality verification are pending in Bangladesh, some of which have been pending for five years.” India’s policy is that all illegal foreign nationals residing in India should be deported in accordance with Indian laws, procedure and established bilateral arrangements. “We hope that Bangladesh will expedite nationality verification so that the repatriation of illegal immigrants can be facilitated smoothly,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. The comments came in response to media queries on the issue on Tuesday related to a social media post by Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman in which he had said Dhaka would take action if there was any “coercive” incident from the Indian side. Jaiswal said, “These comments should be seen in the context of the main issue of return of illegal Bangladeshis from India. This requires cooperation from Bangladesh.” He also answered another question on possible cooperation between Bangladesh and China on the management of Teesta river. He said, “…we have 54 rivers that both countries share. We have created bilateral mechanisms to discuss all water related issues. These bilateral mechanisms keep meeting at regular intervals.” Bangladesh’s BSS news agency reported that Rahman had sought China’s participation and support for the Teesta project during his visit.